What should we teach our children? Research shows that 80% of the facts we learn for tests are forgotten in a month. We remember best that information with which we have an emotional connection. It’s a lot easier to remember your birthday than the year of the Battle of Hastings. 1066, in case you’re wondering. […]
Fathers Courageous
A few weeks ago a friend recommended the film, Courageous. This movie explores a father’s role in the life of his children. Modern fatherhood–along with everything else–has become more complicated and less clear in its definition than ever before. Single motherhood seems to be the new norm, with marriage considered unnecessary. In this process men […]
Leaders Lead
Effective leaders empower the whole person to do the whole job of self-leadership and management. Epictetus said it well over two thousand years ago, “No man is free who is not master of himself.” In order to help others help themselves, we have to engage their minds, bodies, heart and spirits. We must include them […]
Leaders Are Committed
Peter Drucker, one of the greatest management minds of our time, wrote that with a few hundred years’ perspective, historians may view our time as one of “unprecedented change in the human condition. For the first time–literally–substantial and rapidly growing numbers of people have choices. For the first time, they will have to manage themselves. […]
Leaders Take Risks
Our initial responsibility as leaders, no matter what field we are in, is to first do no harm. If we are going to be problem solvers and remove obstacles to a child’s development, we have to take risks. Change always involves the danger that what we do may not work, but change also creates the […]
Leaders Have Imagination
Being an effective leader requires immense imagination. As leaders we must envision the person who is not yet there; the situation that has not arrived; the community that is to be formed. As leaders we must imagine the human potential, and this is no small or easy task. We have to have vision and curiosity. […]
Leaders Have Spirit
One definition of spirit is “a particular mood or emotional state characterized by vigor and animation.” As leaders we need to have enthusiasm for the work we are doing, the people we are working with, and the place where we work and play. As parent and school leaders we model to our children what it […]
Leaders Respond
Responsibility. Think of responsibility as being able to respond with ability. As leaders, if we are to respond with ability, we must have certain skills, knowledge and attitudes. We must cultivate a habit of enlarging, as well as focusing, vital attitudes, knowledge and skills. To know and not to do, is really not to know. […]
Leaders Listen
As we examine the leader in the mirror, we should see improvement and growth as we work to enlarge our sphere of influence by learning and practicing new skills based on principles that represent the people and causes we value most. To grow as a leader we must have integrity, empathy, and critical thinking skills […]
Leaders Grow
Research shows that it takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of focused practice to become a master musician, artist, dancer…parent or leader. One of the first steps in becoming a leader is realizing that proficiency requires a significant amount of time, commitment and dedication. How much time is 10,000 hours? Practice eight hours a day, […]